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We’ve spent months preparing, and tonight (round 1 am ET on Wednesday) we’re flipping the change on a significant improve to our group platform, which helps each article feedback and the OpenForum. We gained’t be dropping any information, and also you gained’t must arrange a brand new account or change your password. You’ll have to wait a couple of hours, although, and for that we’re sorry!
We anticipate that each programs will stay offline till round Wednesday afternoon as we course of our huge 22 years of feedback (that’s 1 million subjects and greater than 28 million posts). All logins and consumer registration capabilities shall be unavailable throughout this time. Which means no article feedback, no discussion board shopping, and sadly, it additionally means subscribers will be unable to entry their sub advantages for a short time. We’ll make it as quick as potential. When it’s achieved, simply log in once more together with your previous credentials and also you’re set.
For extra element on what we’re doing and why, maintain studying.
Neighborhood is important to Ars Technica
When longtime Ars readers speak about how lengthy they’ve been round they typically level to their discussion board registration date (mine is June 8, 2001). It may be a badge of pleasure! The oldest of the old-schoolers have 1999 reg dates on their profiles, which is way back to our information goes (Ars was based in 1998, however the WWWThreads information from the very first discussion board was misplaced).
Not many communities on the Web can lay declare to lively customers who’ve been round for greater than twenty years. It’s one thing we maintain as our personal badge of pleasure. Thanks for sticking with us for thus lengthy! That mentioned, even if you happen to measure your tenure right here in years or months as a substitute of a long time, we’re nonetheless thrilled to have you ever, and lots of of our greatest contributors are our most up-to-date recruits, if you’ll.
In an period the place many websites are closing their remark sections, and social media more and more treats individuals like a commodity, we’ve chosen to refocus on how we will amplify the good contributions readers make right here. To do this, we wanted a completely new discussion board and commenting system, and we’ve discovered it in XenForo, a contemporary discussion board system with a well-recognized really feel.
Every little thing you count on from the Ars boards, like flat discussions with out threading and regular reverse chronological studying order shall be there. Your publish rely and registration date will stay intact, in addition to all the discussion board content material going all the best way again to 1999.
The identical BBCode you’re used to utilizing will nonetheless work. However you gained’t have at hand sort tags if you happen to select to make use of the handy editor instruments interface. Nearly each facet of our discussion board will get the same “nonetheless works, but it surely’s higher” contact.
No extra operating into quote limits or making an attempt to edit a mass of nested tags. Quotes will now default to a single stage (you may edit the tags so as to add extra if you happen to actually want). We’ll have full cellular assist, the discussion board shall be straightforward to learn and use in your telephones now. You’ll be capable to see when somebody replies to you simply.
There shall be a darkish mode.
We’re breaking with previous Ars discussion board custom in a method: There shall be avatars. Nearly each social platform makes use of them now, they usually’re enormously useful with a consumer base as massive as ours to assist visually determine posters. (No animation, and anybody who abuses the system could discover we select an avatar for them.) Get pleasure from selecting one thing to additional categorical your discussion board character.
As with every massive transition like this, we count on some hiccups. We’ve examined every part in a beta discussion board with our moderation staff, however there’s nothing like a dwell setting with hundreds and hundreds of customers to search out the sting circumstances. We’ll have a thread to report points and a developer staff to assist us handle bugs and points. Please bear with us as we repair something.
XenForo provides a contemporary structure that’s simply extensible, so past getting bug fixes sorted you may count on a future with extra options, each for all customers and upgrades for our subscribers. We’ve got our personal plans, however we’re blissful to take feedback and options for bettering your expertise.
We hope you take pleasure in the brand new discussion board and remark system. Our dedication to our group stays robust. We’ll have new instruments for our moderation staff, which we’ll look to increase shifting ahead. Ars will stay a spot for open and respectful discussions, in addition to a spot to share and revel in your geeky passions.
Whether or not you’re a 1999er or considering this is likely to be the time to join a brand new account, we sit up for your contributions.
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